Coming into college, I firmly believed my time management skills would lead me to get my work done efficiently so would get enough sleep. However, by the third week of college I found myself in the midst of a paper as the sun was rising and the birds began to chirp. There have been far too many times already in my college career I have found myself gazing at the blank stare of my alarm clock as it ticks onward through the morning, unaware of how badly I need it to slow down.

I will admit it hasn't been my workload that has caused these all-nighters, but rather my own choices.

Sometimes you just have to sacrifice a little bit of homework time to go explore Birmingham or visit Waffle House for the sixth time that week. Whether or not those are academically wise decisions is up for debate, but they've certainly made my Samford experience much more fun. Without being willing to drop what I'm doing at a moment's notice and go with some new friends to see the color tunnels or see Regions Field at night, my college experience would not be the same thus far.

Now, don't get me wrong. In the moment, all-nighters are absolutely brutal. No one else is awake to help push you onwards and all you want is to crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of the semester. You'll end up checking your email every fifteen minutes or so hoping against all odds that a class cancellation email comes in and gives you sweet release from your responsibilities. Unfortunately, those are extremely few and far between.

Somehow, you will push through the night. You will finish that ten page paper and turn it in. You will sit there in quiet victory and wonder why you ever procrastinated so long as to put yourself through this horrible gauntlet of research and writing.

But then you will remember what caused you to have to stay up all night and you will smile. The memories of the fun you and your friends had will make you laugh and might just make the entire night you spent slaving away to finish your homework worth it.

Late nights are nearly unavoidable for me. Oftentimes, though, the very thing that caused those late nights have been experiences that I will always remember very fondly.

Samford University in and of itself doesn't encourage all-nighters. But, if seizing opportunities to go on a new adventure with friends causes a late night or two, that all-nighter is totally worth it in my opinion.